God's Fire: Refining Gold Week 2

But understanding what James tells us in the first chapter of the book by his name, we should realize that trouble in this life can be to our benefit, and help grow our perseverance.

Experiencing the refining fire of God is very difficult, but it’s a necessary part of life.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Malachi teaches us that "Christ by his gospel shall purify and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it shall regenerate and cleanse particular souls; for to this end he gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26) and purify to himself a peculiar people, Tit. 2:14 . Christ is the great refiner.

The Big Idea for today’s message is:

“Being refined by God’s Holy Fire is a good thing for us! It is necessary to root out all the junk that is part of our fleshly lives.”

Let’s take a look at what Job said about his trials.

Job 23:10 NKJV

10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

God burns away that which is unholy in our lives so that he can develop us for His purpose.

What is God doing when we go through trials? If we allow Him...

God is Producing Character in our Life That is Worth More Than Gold

Job 23:10 NKJV

10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

God knows where we’re going.

When He takes us through the refiner’s fire, He wants to remove pride, self-centeredness, self-will, our sense of independence, and make us more useful for Him as He builds His kingdom.

The gold that God is developing in our lives is a refined character.

It’s a purified faith.

The gold God is referring to is the nature of Christ and not big ministries or any of man’s ideas of success.

In times of crisis, God wants us to fix our focus on Him and find Him in the adversity.

We need to take advantage of this opportunity to develop godly character.

Allow God to test your faith and stretch you.

Persevere and endure through the tribulation.

Embrace God’s refining fire with expectancy.

Hold onto the truth that you will come forth as gold.

Next...

Remember: It’s a Process

1 Peter 5:10 NKJV

10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Here’s an example of the process...

Stage 1: The Breaking - The Refiner Breaks Up the Natural Ore

In biblical times, a refiner began by breaking up rough ore—hardened rock encased with common minerals such as tin, copper, and zinc.

But that rock also had the promise of valuable, rare metals hidden within—the precious metals of gold and silver.

The breaking of the rock is necessary to begin the refining process to expose highly valuable metals to heat.

The Lord communicates His perfect plan to us—we are rough rock in need of refining fire.

Jeremiah 23:29 NKJV

29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Stage 2: The Crucible - The Refiner Places Unrefined Metal into a Crucible

The refiner puts broken, crushed ore into a “crucible”—a fireproof melting pot able to withstand extreme heat.

Then the refiner places the crucible into the furnace at the precise temperature necessary for removing other metals that would mar the quality of the gold or silver.

Just as the furnace is used to purify silver in the crucible, our Refiner uses heat to purify our hearts and cleanse our character.

Proverbs 17:3 NKJV

3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.

Stage 3: The Dross - The Refiner Places the Crucible in the Heated Furnace to Remove Dross

As the ore melts in the crucible under the watchful eye of the refiner, a layer of impurities called “dross” eventually forms on the surface. The Bible says,

Proverbs 25:4 NKJV

4 Take away the dross from silver, And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.

For us individually, dross represents any misplaced dependency—any wrong motive, wrong attitude, wrong action—anything that keeps us from being all that God wants us to be.

Stage 4: The Heat - The Refiner Raises the Temperature to Higher Degrees

After the refiner painstakingly skims off these impurities, he then turns up the heat and places the crucible back into the blistering furnace.

Again, and again (up to seven times, we are told in historical literature) impurities rise to the surface.

He knows that only certain impurities are released at certain temperatures.

Psalm 12:6 NKJV

6 The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

Stage 5: The Purification - The Refiner Continues to Remove the Impurities

Each time, with utmost skill and patience, the refiner removes the dross, leaving behind gleaming gold and shimmering silver . . . purer and more precious than before.

To gauge his progress, the refiner looks for his own reflection on the surface of the silver-filled crucible.

The more dross removed, the less distorted his reflection.

The Bible says our Refiner sits over the refining process to purify us,

Job 23:10 NKJV

10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Stage 6: The Reflection - The Refiner Sees a Clear Image of Himself

Only when the refiner investigates the crucible and sees a clear reflection of himself is the process complete. Finally, the silver or gold attains its highest degree of purity!

And that, my friend, describes our Refiner’s loving intentions for allowing us to be in the “furnace of affliction.”

As we trust Him to use our trials to cleanse our character and purify our hearts, we will begin to see the “silver lining.”

Isaiah 48:10 NKJV

10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

The big picture is not about you. It is not about you. It is never, ever about you.

It is and always has been (long before you and long after you) about God alone.

There is not one selfish person in heaven and there never will be.

We all question God at times and He loves us enough to allow it, but who are we to question God?

After God pulled Job out of the fire, he was polished and blessed much more than before he went into the tremendous trials that he suffered.

The life of Job is proof that man usually has no idea what God is doing behind the scenes in the life of each believer.

Job knew that God was on His Throne and in total control, though he had no way of knowing why so many terrible tragedies were occurring in his life.

Job never lost his faith or trust in God, even under the most distressing circumstances that tested him to his core.